Vauxhall Zafira B recalled again over safety concerns

Almost 235,000 right-hand-drive versions of the Vauxhall Zafira B people carrier are being recalled over fears they could catch fire...

Darren Moss

26 April 2019

The Vauxhall Zafira B people carrier is being recalled for the third time in four years due to renewed safety fears.

Almost 235,000 cars, all of which were built in the UK, are being recalled. Those affected were built between 2005 and 2014 and have either no or manual air conditioning. Vauxhall's tests on cars that had undergone previous remedial work found a small number of cars still had wiring that could overheat and melt. The Sun newspaper reports that at least one case has resulted in a fire.

Owners will be invited to take their cars to their local Vauxhall dealership, where the corrective work will take less than an hour. It involves fitting a redesigned wiring harness and plug connector for the ventilation system. All work will be free of charge.

Any concerned owners should phone Vauxhall on 08000 260866

Has this happened before?

Vauxhall first became aware of the problem in 2009, and in 2014 concerns were raised that reported fires had a similar pattern. However, Vauxhall didn't start to investigate until August 2015, after more than 160 fires had occurred.

In December 2015, Vauxhall issued its first recall, writing to all 234,938 Zafira B owners to make them aware of the issue and telling them to contact their dealer if they notice anything suspicious about their car's ventilation system (such as squeaking sounds) or if their car's ventilation fan doesn't work in speed settings 1, 2 or 3.

Although Vauxhall was made aware of the first fire in a recalled car in February 2016, it didn't issue a second recall until May of that year.

In 2017, a report by the Commons Transport Select Committee criticised Vauxhall's response to fires in the Zafira B, stating that the British car maker showed a "reckless disregard for safety".

It said Vauxhall's response to the fires was "morally reprehensible" and that it was too slow to take action. It also said Vauxhall was too quick to blame garages for improper and unauthorised repairs and alleged that no efforts were made to trace poor repairs.

At the time, Vauxhall said there were "lessons to be learned" from the fires.

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